A pillar of the Gloucester community, Richard “Dick” Wilson, a lefty who threw the very first pitch for the new Gloucester Little League program in 1953, a philanthropist who spearheaded the renewal of Newell Stadium and supported young athletes, various charities and the city’s schools, died Thursday morning at age 82, those close to him said.
Mayor Greg Verga said Thursday afternoon that flags at City Hall will be flown at half staff in Wilson’s honor.
“Dick was a very inspirational man who gave back to this community in more ways than one,” said Lisa Olson, who coached Little League for 43 years. She said Wilson was someone who mentored people both on and off the ballfield and gave generously to the city.
“If you were a kid and you wanted to know how to pitch, he was the guy to go to,” Olson said.
The Little League field at O’Maley Innovation Middle School is named Wilson Field after him.
Wilson and his late wife quietly supported the community and numerous nonprofits and organizations. This includes the Gloucester Fishermen Athletic Association in its efforts to renovate Newell Stadium, Gloucester Education Foundation and Gloucester Little League as well as The Open Door Food Pantry and Wellspring House, among many others.
He also would quietly help support young athletes in need, said Ted Costa, the incoming president of the Gloucester Education Foundation and former city councilor, who with Wilson’s help and others raised money to help rebuild Magnolia Pier.
“Dick always had that adage, alone in life we can accomplish a little,” Costa said, “but together we can do so much.”
Mentor, facilitator
David McKechnie, managing partner and owner of Beauport Financial Services of Gloucester, counted Wilson as a friend, mentor, and father figure. He said Wilson formerly ran Bay State Financial Services and he hired McKechnie when he was a young man. Later, McKechnie said, Wilson helped him and his business partner, Beauport Managing Partner Derek Reed, start their own firm in Gloucester.
McKechnie said Wilson, a former long-time Gloucester School Committee member, taught them how to conduct themselves in business and about the importance of giving back.
“He had a contagious enthusiasm about the projects he would work on,” he said.
McKechnie said he felt like he had lost a second dad. He said Wilson raised five sons who all went to Gloucester Public Schools, and “somehow he found time for me.”
Wilson leaves sons Rick, Glenn, Steve, Gary and Chris, and 12 grandchildren, said son Glenn Wilson.
“The city of Gloucester was obviously very near and dear to his heart and I think he loved the city and the city loved him,” Glenn Wilson said. He described his father as a facilitator who could connect a project or something near to his heart with others willing to support the cause.
Like his father, Glenn Wilson also played baseball. He said his father graduated from the University of Massachusetts where he was a baseball standout as a left-handed pitcher. His father also played ball for the Cleveland Indians organization.
In an interview for 1623 Studios with Kory Curcuru and Maureen Aylward on “Now We’re Here” on Aug. 6, 2019, Wilson said of his involvement in fundraising: “I just know the right people, that’s all. You get to know the people. Everybody wants to help, it’s just they don’t know what to do, so I tell people what to do. It’s kind of … it works.”
Wilson told the show’s presenters he had lived in Magnolia for 56 years at the time.
Among his many honors was the Distinguished Service Award of the Yankee Clipper Council, Boy Scouts of America. He and his late wife, Barbara, were the 2017 recipients of the Linzee Coolidge Philanthropy Award.
Verga said there are a lot of nonprofits and other entities that exist because of Wilson. Verga said he met Wilson around 2007 when he was a member of the School Committee and due to budget cuts, athletic user fees were raised. Verga said a nonprofit was formed to defray the cost for students in need of financial assistance and Wilson was the one who came up with the Gloucester Fishermen Athletic Association (GFAA) name.
“Everywhere you turn, you can see his name attached,” Verga said.
‘How can we fix it’
“He’s a pretty amazing guy,” said Wilson’s friend, Jonathan Pope, a former School Committee member who served with Wilson on the GFAA. Pope said Wilson was not someone who did something for the credit. “He was just a wonderful guy and a ball of energy.”
He said it was Wilson who came up with the idea to renovate Newell Stadium and they got behind him in this effort. “He would just see a problem and say, ‘how can we fix it.”
A corner of the former Mattos Field ballfield on Webster Street was named in Wilson’s honor in May 2019. The ballfield has since been dismantled to make way for the new East Veterans Elementary School.
A plaque in the corner of the field in Wilson’s honor said that on Sunday, May 10, 1953, 12-year-old “southpaw” Dick Wilson threw the very first pitches in the inaugural Little League program opener.
The plaque said that on June 7, 2017, he returned to Mattos Field to close out the “Light Up Mattos” initiative, turning on the new lights and returning night play to the historic field.
In 2020, The Open Door food pantry established the Dick Wilson Upsizer Award.
“Dick has shown what a lifetime of doing good does for a community and The Open Door is proud to establish this award in his name. He’s an inspiration,” said Julie LaFontaine, president and CEO of The Open Door, in a story in the Times.
The first recipient of the new award was Wilson because of his love of community and support of countless local charities through Beauport Financial Services’ Richard D. Wilson Community Response Gift Fund.
McKechnie stressed that Wilson never did things to draw attention. “It was always about the project, it was never about him.”
State Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, lamented Wilson’s passing. He said while Wilson may have been unassuming, but “his deeds and actions spoke very loudly.”
Ethan Forman may be contacted at 978-675-2714,or at eforman@northofboston.com.
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